Finding Never Land
by Nerdherder51
Summary: A hawk chases Vidia out to sea where she seeks shelter on a cargo vessel to escape the persistent predator. Arriving in New York City circa 1901 Vidia locates a fairy colony in Brooklyn and arranges to get home but begins to suspect that something isn't right. Rated K plus for mild peril, adventure and humor. Vidia and plenty of OC's, both human and fairy.
1. Chapter 1

**Finding Never Land**

__Disclaimer: Tinker Bell, Disney Fairies and all related materials are owned by The Walt Disney Company. This fan fiction is not for profit or monetary gain and is intended solely for the entertainment of its audience.__

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><p>1.<p>

Exhausted.

Vidia was completely exhausted. She gasped and gulped for air. Her heart pounded and her nerves were nearly shot. Hidden inside a human sailing ship Vidia had found respite from Pixie Hollow's omnipresent predator. The Hawk. Concealing herself from human eyes she peered out through a closed porthole and saw nothing but ocean with one exception. In the distance, faintly visible, the British Islands were receding from view.

**~O~**

The day had begun quite nicely for the fast flyer. A clear sky, warm afternoon and the gentle breezes which were the handiwork of Vidia and her guild. With work done she flitted off for a nice, relaxing flight through the pine forest. In the trees were animal fairies helping momma birds teach their chicks to fly.

The meandering flight was going so well until she heard that frightening sound.

SKREEE!

It sent shivers down her spine and pierced her soul with such fear. The hawk. It had been circling looking for a meal and found Vidia. The giant winged predator tucked in its wings and dove upon the purple clad flyer. Now Vidia was in a flight for her very life.

She ducked into a shelter inside the trunk of a tree, but the relentless hawk scratched and ripped through the bark forcing her to escape and look elsewhere. The scouts spotted the bird and sent in help, but Vidia couldn't guide the hawk towards the rescue party. This hawk was among the fastest most agile of its kind she had ever encountered.

Every time Vidia spotted a shelter the raptor cut her off. Soon she realized what it was doing. It was herding her. Pushing out over open water where there were no shelters and no help. This bird was smart. It was going to drive her to total exhaustion so it could capture her and rip her flesh off with its talons and beak.

But luck was with her this day. This human ship was underway exactly where she needed it. And quickly Vidia had ducked inside a compartment where the hawk could not follow. The bird circled the vessel for some time before it eventually returned to the island of Never Land to look for more prey.

Vidia, though, was stuck here. It was late in the day, her pixie dust ration was almost gone and the only land close enough was now gone from view. This ship was her refuge, but now she wondered what would become of her. She had no idea where this vessel was headed. And once it arrived how would she get home? Could she get home? Her heart sunk as any hope of getting home seemed to fade with the fading rays' of the late evening sunlight.

Soon her extreme exhaustion drove her to find a secluded spot where she lay down and fell fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Finding Never Land**

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><p>2.<p>

Vidia awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. She had slept for several hours. The sunlight pouring through the porthole of the compartment where she sequestered herself gave an indication that it was an hour or two until noon.

She took accounting of her dwindling pixie dust supply. If she flew as little as possible she could make it last a full day. Maybe more.

Her stomach grumbled. Her gut never felt so empty. Her mouth was parched like a desert. She was thirsty. No surprise considering yesterday. She must have sweat out so much during the elongated chase.

Vidia knew it was necessary to fly to find food and water. But beyond that she was determined to stay on the ground as much as possible. Being grounded for an extended period was perhaps the worst punishment for a fast flyer. Flying wasn't just about locomotion, it was part of their very being.

She stood up and fluttered her wings to search her surroundings.

"AAAAAAAUUUGGHHH!"

Vidia collapse in agony. The wing muscles in her back all but seized up. They were incredibly tight and the pain streaked through her body like electricity. When she was back on her feet Vidia had to consciously avoid using her wings.

But she had to fly. To get to food and water. Vidia closed her eyes and readied herself for the sting. Slowly her wings moved in and out. She flinched the first time, even biting her lip.

"Again." Vidia slowly fluttered her wings, pressing herself to ignore the throbbing and aching. Soon the tightness alleviated enough that she could get airborne and move about.

**~O~**

The shadows were her friends. She darted from one shadow to the next to avoid detection by the human crew. It didn't take long for her to find the galley and the stores of food. Inside the pantry Vidia wanted to gorge herself on fruits and gulp down water.

"No, I have to be sensible." Shoving down too much food would dull her senses, she might get caught by one of the ship's crew. Instead Vidia found a quiet corner from which to nibble on fruits, nuts and cheeses. When no one was looking the flyer collected water from a nearby pitcher set out in the dining room, called the Mess Hall.

She ate and drank enough to restore her energy and slake her thirst. Now she wanted to gather some food to take back to her hiding place. "What if I hid here?" she asked herself.

"I wouldn't do that?" a voice said.

Vidia turned to find a tall and rather good looking sparrow man. He possessed a gleam in his eyes, his hair was dark like hers and he was dressed quite nicely.

"Wh- who are you?"

"Hi, my name is Rodney," he replied with a funny accent she didn't recognize. "What's yours?"

"Vidia," she said. "So why shouldn't I stay here near the food?"

"That's why," he answered her by pointing to a rat scurrying across the floor. "They get onboard and make a beeline for the food. So, where are you from?"

"Uh…, England," she replied.

"Funny, you don't sound English."

"Okay, where are you from?"

"Around."

"Around? What kind of answer is that? And is that how they speak in 'Around?'"

"I'm from a colony in Brooklyn," he told her, "but I prefer to explore and go wherever the wind takes me. So I'm from around."

"Brooklyn? Where is that?"

He laughed. "You don't know? Well I guess if you're from England you wouldn't. Brooklyn is a borough in New York City."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"In New York State."

Vidia shook her head. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"In America."

"America? Is that the mainland across the great waters?"

"That's the one. And that is where we're heading."

Vidia shuddered. They were sailing across the great waters. Away, far away from home. "I'm never getting back to Never Land."

"Oh, so that's where you're from," Rodney answered, as though everything suddenly made sense. "You're one of those fairies."

"Huh?"

"Never Land is the mother colony. Every colony of fairies found around the world owes its existence to Never Land."

"Well in that case, you're welcome."

"Oh I know the likes of you, I do," he observed. "You're just like me. Let me guess, they kicked you out, too?"

"They kicked you out? Why am I not surprised?" Vidia answered snidely. "No, sweetie, I'm well-loved where I come from. And if I don't get back soon everything will fall apart without me."

"Why? You the queen?"

"No, but I am the most talented fast flyer in all of Pixie Hollow," she said with an arrogant huff.

"So you're from the snobbish guild. Makes me wish I left you to the rat."

"What's your talent?" Vidia asked Rodney. "Besides acting boorish?"

"Don't have one. At least not one you would care about," Rodney said dismissively.

"Well by your clothing I would say you're a scout," she observed.

"That I am."

Vidia walked around him in a big circle, sizing him up and wondering why exactly he got kicked out of his colony. Before she could say a word, though, there was a sound behind her. She turned and saw the rat staring her down.

"Oh flap!"

"Fly!" Rodney yelled.

Vidia took the air, but instantly fell down again. Her face grimacing from the intense discomfort. She had not kept her wings moving and now her flight muscles had tightened up again. Rodney looked back and witnessed the rat padding its way towards the helpless Vidia. He raced back and tossed a clump of flour into the eyes of the rodent. He then scooped up Vidia into his arms and flew her out of the pantry.

He took her out a porthole and went topside. Vidia spotted tall masts, but no sails hung from them. Instead there was a large stack from which thick, black smoke belched as if the very ship was on fire. Rodney set down atop the ship. He pulled open a piece of sheet metal which was loose on one side.

"Ladies first," he said motioning for her to step through. Vidia, turning sideways, slipped inside and saw a bunk, a table and chair, a thimble full of water, a few clothes and some scraps of food.

"You live here?"

"Yup, this is my humble home. Not as glamorous as my guild's home tree on Duck Island, but it serves my purpose."

"Duck Island?"

"It's in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I'll take you there."

Since Vidia's supply of dust was very low, Rodney took it upon himself to supply her with food and water and offered her his bed each night while he took the chair. The crossing to America took several days and it allowed Vidia to rest her wing muscles. When she could fly Rodney offered her a sprinkling of his own dust and took her on a tour of the ship.

They began on the bridge where they spied the captain, a stately looking older man with more white than black in his hair and beard. Afterwards, the two fairies visited the forecastle where the anchors were operated. This was followed by the kitchen and a sampling of food being cooked, something called ratatouille.

The tour ended first with the engine room followed by the cargo hold. The engine that powered the ship was coal fired and produced steam to turn the paddlewheels. This explained the black smoke Vidia had seen earlier. In the cargo hold were horseless carriages, automobiles, which were a popular commodity among the wealthiest elites in America.

Rodney explained that this and its sister ships were used to ferry cargo back and forth from the United States to other countries. "It's called international trade," Rodney informed her rather smugly as if saying, _see how smart I am?_

"Wow, and you even know big words. I'm impressed," Vidia shot back with a smirk.

"Oh I'm going to like spending time with you," he responded with a grin.

"So why are these horseless carriages here?" Vidia asked.

Rodney explained that America sold goods like textiles, refined metal, cotton, oil and other things that other countries wanted and had in short supply. In exchange, those nations paid in gold or goods that America wanted, but had little of such as olives from Italy, wine from France and automobiles from the German Empire.

"Humans can be very inventive," he told her.

"Sounds like a certain tinker fairy I know," she replied.

"Really, tell me about her."

Vidia was getting to like Rodney. He was being so nice to her. The two had fun trading verbal barbs with each other. She was even considering inviting to Pixie Hollow so he could have a real home.

**~O~**

The next morning Vidia woke with a severe pain on the back of her head. She remembered returning to Rodney's home on the ship. She was telling him about Tinker Bell. When she asked him why he was kicked out his colony everything went black.

Looking around Vidia realized where she was. She was laying on a buoy a considerable distance from the shore line. Upon checking her Pixie Dust reserves she found it was gone.

"Rodney," she growled. "He played me for a fool and now he's taken all of my dust. I'm stuck here."

Vidia was so incensed by this betrayal that she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Rodney! If I ever get out of this I'm going to find you and rip both of your wings off! Do you hear me?"

Shouting, though, did nothing to change the fact that she was stranded and flightless. Left to die in sight of the very shore that could save her life. She would never get home and no one in Pixie Hollow would ever know what happened to her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Finding Never Land**

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><p>3.<p>

It couldn't end this way for Pixie Hollow's most talented fast flyer. Grounded or not there had to be away, but as she looked around nothing presented itself as a means to leave this buoy and get to the shoreline. Whatever that shore was.

"I wish Tinker Bell was here," she said, admitting something she didn't care to repeat. Ever. For a time Vidia was a tinker fairy when Zarina mismatched their talents. Vidia came to appreciate tinkers and their importance in Pixie Hollow, but once her true talent was restored that ability to problem solve like a tinker vanished.

_What am I going to do?_

As if answering her unspoken question a seagull landed on the buoy.

"Hey. Can you take me over there?" she asked it.

The gull, though, sized her up.

"Uh oh."

The bird snatched Vidia into its beak and lit off towards land. "This isn't what I meant! Let me go. I am not a snack." The bird did not listen.

"Oh great, I escaped the hawk only to be eaten by this thing."

Actually, it was worse. Much worse. The seagull landed in its nest where there were newborn chicks. Each was covered in down and were chirping for food. "Oh no," Vidia gasped.

The gull dropped Vidia into the maw of one of the babies. Only through skill, and lots of flailing of arms and legs, did Vidia narrowly avoid being eaten. Instead the flyer dropped into the nest. She navigated her way through the chicks and leapt out onto the branch holding the nest. All she needed was to scamper down that branch and find an open knot hole.

But the mother gull snapped her up again and prepared to drop the fairy back into the nest as a feast for her babies.

"Not again! Sorry, Fawn." When the gull dropped her, Vidia grabbed hold of the bird's beak, climbed up onto it and jumped onto its back. "Fly you birdbrain!" Vidia ordered.

The bird violently tried to shake her off, then twisted its head around to grab her with its beak. Vidia dove from her perch and fell, screaming. She used her wings to mitigate her fall and managed to glide to the ground. Unfortunately, she landed in a large puddle of water.

Her wings quickly soaked up the water and weighed her down. The water was too shallow to drown her, but the extra weight slowed her just enough for the gull to snap her up in its beak again. This time something intervened.

"Shoo! Shoo!"

Vidia looked up. What she saw all but terrified her. A human. An unshaven man dressed in tattered clothing and wearing a hat from under which his bright red hair peeked out.

"Well now, what do we have here," he asked rhetorically. Vidia recognized his accent as Irish. He reached down and picked her up in his hands, which were gloved but with the fingertips exposed.

"Saints preserve us, one of the fairy folk," he said. "A myth right here in me own hand. Well, ye ain't a myth now if ye be sittin' right here in me hand."

Vidia could smell the alcohol on his breath. In fact, his other hand was occupied with a flask from which he took a swig. "I could trade ye for a handsome bit of money, I could. Or some good whiskey. Wait, maybe ye ain't a fairy. Maybe ye be one of the little people of Ireland and ye used magic to make ye-self look like a fairy?"

_Little people? Where do these humans get such dumb ideas?_ Vidia asked herself. But she played along and nodded.

"Aye, I knew ye be one of the little people. And now that I caught ya, ye owe me three wishes," the man said with an exaggerated grin.

_Wishes? You didn't say anything about wishes!_

"I'm taking ye home and then we can start on me three wishes."

The man unceremoniously dumped her into his coat pocket and started walking down the street, slowing every so often to sip his drink. Then he stopped and looked down into the pocket. "Where're me manners. Would ye like swig of me whiskey?"

Vidia scowled and shook her head no.

"Fine, more for me," and he took another swig before stumbling along.

_Oh great, now I have to grant this guy three wishes. How am I supposed to do that? Maybe that bird and its hungry chicks are still around, at least then I'll be out of my misery._


	4. Chapter 4

**Finding Never Land**

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><p>4.<p>

Oh the indignity of it all. When the man, whose name was Onus McShay, arrived home he put Vidia inside a birdcage.

"Now I know how Tinker Bell felt," she mused, recalling seeing the little tinker fairy get tossed into one of these things when they first met Lizzy. Onus took her to the kitchen. On the way Vidia noticed that his home was a tiny, dilapidated apartment consisting of a small parlor, a bedroom and the kitchen which doubled as a dining room.

Decorating the walls were a plethora of religious iconography. Many were of Mary with a supernatural glow, or Mary holding the Christ child. There were also several crucifixes on the walls. What made these different from the ones she had seen in London is that each had a small sculpture of the Christ as an adult with nails in his hands and feet and a crown of thorns laying on his head.

"Yikes! Who are these people?" she asked herself worriedly.

"Oh, ye be a pretty little thing," he said. "But ye ain't going to be puttin' no spells on Onus McShay. I caught ye fair and square an' now ye owe me me three wishes. Now then, let's see what I want for me first wish."

"Onus!?" came a woman's voice from elsewhere in the house.

"Oh, that be me wife Katy." Onus tossed a towel over the cage to hide Vidia's presence. "Now be good. None o' yer tricks."

_Be good? What am I a dog? _Vidia grumbled in her thoughts.

"Onus! I know ye were at the pub," she said angrily. "How much of our hard earned money did you squander on that cursed drink?"

The woman opened the door to the kitchen and found him standing in front of the table.

"How is me lovely wife today?" Onus asked in a tone so fake Katy knew he was up to something.

"Don't lovely wife me, ye lush," she bellowed. "I know ye were at the pub today drinkin' when ye should have been workin'. That's our rent money. And what about the baby? She needs milk and we need food in our bellies. Can ye think of no one but yerself?"

"Oh now today I'll make you proud of me," he said trying to mitigate her anger.

"HA! I ain't never been proud of ye since the day we was married," she answered him bitterly.

_Good one, _Vidia thought.

"Ye promised me a good life and all we got to show for it is this tiny apartment that ain't fit for man nor beast," she added scornfully. "Three rooms too small for the likes of us and a water closet that's shared by twenty neighbors."

"Well today, that's all going to change, me darlin'," he said. Onus picked up the birdcage and announced, "What's in here is going to change our lives forever."

_Uh oh!_

He drew back the towel and showed Vidia to his wife.

"Mother o' Mercy, that's one of the fairy folk," she exclaimed, moving her hand from her forehead to her chest and then from her left shoulder to the right. "Onus, ye get that thing out of the house this instant."

"Awe, but love, she's one of the little people," he tried to explain. "I caught her fair and square and now she's going to grant me three wishes."

"That's not one of the little people, ye thick headed lummox," she answered him. "That be one of the faerie folk."

"No, me darlin', tis using magic so it looks like a faerie folk. It's one of the little people from back home. Now all our troubles will be over."

"Onus, that there is a creature of Satan himself, come to steal away our baby and make it a servant unto the darkness."

The woman grabbed a crucifix from off the wall and shoved it against the cage wall. "We're a good Catholic family and I want no part of ye or yer lyin' ways," she yelled at Vidia. "Now back to the devil with ya."

Vidia just crossed her arms and grumbled, "Oh please. I'm not evil, just highly irritable."

"It's not workin'," Onus told her.

In response Katy dropped to her knees and began to recite The Lord's Prayer followed by several Hail Mary's and an Apostle's Creed. She had to reach up and yank Onus to his knees to make him pray alongside her.

When the two looked up again the fairy had not disappeared, though it did yawn.

"She's still here!" Katy shrieked in horror.

"Y'know, maybe it's a Protestant fairy," Onus suggested.

"Don't be daft," Katy insisted. "No fairy in the history of mankind has ever been beholden to the Lord. Now take this creature of pure evil out of me house and get rid of it. And don't you come back till ye do."

"Oh, but Katy, she'll grant us all the gold we could want," Onus said trying to persuade his wife otherwise. "We'll be rich beyond our wildest dreams."

"Aye, rich in this world and poor in the next. I ain't spoilin' this family with the devil's gold. Now get rid of that thing anyway ye can. And don't stop for a drink at the pub, neither," she added. "All that time you spend bending a glass to yer mouth ye could be bendin' a knee to the Lord. I can't fathom why ye drink so much."

"Well of course I drink," Onus countered angrily, "Look who I'm married to."

Vidia was surprised. When Onus was pushed far enough he actually showed some backbone. Unfortunately Katy wasn't one to take any of his lip. Instead she hurled a ladle at his head and screamed for him to get out and not come back till the deed was done.

Onus sighed and covered the bird cage to hide his prize as he hustled out the door. "Come along. Now I got find some way to make a little money of a' ya. Maybe then Katy won't be so mad at me."

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><p><strong>Yes, I'm using Hollywood stereotypes of the Irish from around 1901 for comedic affect. I don't mean to offend. I live in Texas. The only Irish I ever see is in Hollywood movies and college football (The Notre Dame Fighting Irish.)<strong>

**I hope you are enjoying this story so far. A little feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Finding Never Land**

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><p>5.<p>

Onus McShay wasn't one to follow orders precisely. He looked for loopholes and equivocated as much as he could. What if, he thought, he found a way to be rid of this fairy at the pub? Now he would be doin' what his wife asked and he could bring home a little bit of money to make up for what he had spent. And maybe have a nip of the whiskey to boot.

He walked in and plopped the birdcage down on the bar.

"What's that?" Angus the barkeeper asked him.

"That, me friend, is the little people I told ye about earlier," he said. "Me Katy wants no part of it in our house. So I'm willin' to make ye an offer. Ten dollars and a glass of yer finest Irish whiskey for me faerie folk."

Angus and the other patrons who were listening burst into laughter. "Aye, and next me aunt will lay an egg made of gold."

"Well then, have a look."

Vidia panicked. It was bad enough that Katy and Onus had seen her, but if the bar patrons saw a real, live fairy who knows what would happen to her. She could spend the rest of her life imprisoned in this cage, a curiosity to be gawked at by drunken humans. Or she could be sent to a conservatory where she would be dissected. Not the fate she had in mind.

Thinking quickly Vidia hopped up onto the perch that was a wooden rod that extended the length of the cage. She made her body as rigid as possible and plastered the most ridiculous smile on her face as she could muster. When the towel parted Angus took a peek inside.

"That ain't no faerie folk," the bartender scoffed. "That's a wee doll ye dressed up in fancy clothes. What are ye tryin' to pull, Onus?"

"That is so a fairy," he said. When he looked inside he saw what it was doing. "No stop actin' that way and show me friend yer real."

Vidia did nothing, remaining as rigid as possible.

"It ain't no fairy," Angus restated. "Now get out of me pub, Onus, before I give you a good punch in the nose. And ye owe me for the drink ye had earlier."

"That was a gift," Onus told him. "And this is a real faerie. Think of it. Ye hang this in yer pub and ye'd have twice the people comin' in to buy a drink just to see this fine little creature."

"Yer fine little creature is a fake," Angus replied. "Tis a trick to get free drink."

"Are ye callin' me a liar?"

"A liar _and_ a cheat."

Onus launched into a tirade telling Angus he wouldn't know a real fairy if it kicked him in the seat of his pants. Angus countered that Onus was a lying thief who drank more than he could afford. Further, he accused Onus of being a poor husband and a terrible provider for Katy. That was it. With those words Onus grabbed Angus by the shirt collar and started a scuffle with the barkeep.

During the kerfuffle, the birdcage was knocked over and it landed on its side behind the bar. Vidia clung to the perch for dear life, but she still landed on the floor with a thud. She rubbed her backside where she hit the hardwood planks. This would have been a perfect time to escape, but the door to the cage was still locked and with the cage lying on its side the door was now on the ceiling.

"Great. Just great," she cursed. Vidia then hit upon the idea of walking the cage around until the door was within her flightless reach. Before she could proceed, however, Vidia heard a noise.

"Psst."

"Huh?"

"Psst. Over here."

Vidia looked over and saw a sparrow man sticking his head inside the towel that was still draped over the cage.

"Come on, we don't have much time."

Vidia ran to him. "Who are you?"

"Later, go to the door. I'll pull up the lock," he said.

"But I don't have any pixie dust. I can't fly."

The sparrow man gave her a pinch of dust which she promptly sprinkled on herself. It felt good to have that magic in her wings again.

Vidia ran to the bottom of the cage, which was currently its vertical wall. After much effort the sparrow man popped open the wooden dowel holding the cage locked. Instantly Vidia flew out, but her benefactor took hold of her leg and pulled her back down. "Wait here." He then closed the cage door and wedged the dowel back into place.

"Follow me."

He moved quietly among the bottles and glasses behind the bar. She followed him all the way to a knothole in the wall which he swung opened like a door. "Get in." Vidia slipped through leaving Onus and the bartender to their heated argument.

Angus had gained the upper hand and had forced Onus to leave. Before doing so, Onus checked on his fairy and was shocked to find that it was gone. "Well, now do ye believe me?" he asked showing the empty cage to the patrons and Angus. "If this wasn't a real faery folk then how did she escape when the cage is still locked?"

One of the bar patrons inspected the cage and found that the dowel was still seated tightly keeping the door closed. "Blimey, he's right. It _was_ a real fairy. Poof! She just vanished."

Everyone in the pub was shocked.

"Then ye weren't tryin' to cheat me," Angus said. "How can I make it up to ya?"

"Why don't we talk about me apology, say over a drink o' whiskey," Onus answered, taking advantage of his new bargaining power. None were aware that inside the walls of the bar Vidia and her new companion were making for the outdoors and freedom.


	6. Chapter 6

**Finding Never Land**

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><p>6.<p>

"I'm sorry, Queen Clarion," Nyx, a scout talent, said reporting in from her most recent search. "We have found nothing."

When Vidia was chased out to sea by the hawk a rescue party followed armed with fruits and nuts to pester the raptor into leaving for easier prey. But none could catch up to the speedy predator and soon both Vidia and the hawk disappeared into the distant western sky.

The instant word reached Queen Clarion she dispatched search parties to find Vidia, or her remains. The search parties spread out in a radiating pattern ranging from northwest to southwest looking for the fast flyer.

However, it had been more than two weeks since Vidia disappeared. Any hope of finding her alive or dead was fading quickly.

The queen, though, would have none of it. "Keep looking," she ordered. "Vidia is our most gifted flyer, if anyone could outrun and survive the hawk it would be her."

Nyx bowed and flew off to give the orders to the other scouts.

Tinker Bell and her friends, who were all close to Vidia, also refused to give up. They extended the search patterns by utilizing several balloon carriers. Loaded with food and water and extra dust Tink and all of her friends set out to find Vidia. Despite their determination they found nothing, but none of them would give up hope and continued to search for their dear friend.

**~O~**

Vidia and her rescuer padded through the narrow spaces between walls then to an exterior wall and out through a mouse hole. Vidia expected life giving warmth and sunlight. Instead the world seemed grey and oppressive. Tall buildings surrounded her and the humans she saw were dressed not unlike Onus McShay and shuffled through the crowded streets.

Vidia heard a whistle. Then another voice said, "Hey, she's a pretty one."

Vidia turned around and noticed another sparrow man. He was a bit short, kind of chubby and looked just a bit dim. He reminded Vidia of Clank. The other sparrow man, her rescuer, was taller and thinner and appeared to be much more on the ball.

"Watch yourself, Lou," the tall one said. "She's our guest. You don't want to scare her away on her first day here, do you?"

"No, of course not."

"Alright. Then shape up." The tall one then turned to address Vidia and said, "My name is Abbott and this is my associate Lou. What's your name?"

"Vidia. Now where am I?"

"Why you're in Hell's Kitchen, of course," Abbott answered her. "On the Island of Manhattan. Where are you from?"

"Pixie Hollow, Never Land," she answered.

"Wow! Did you hear that?" Lou exclaimed. "All the way from over there. Hey? How did you get from all the way over there?"

"I'll ask the questions, Lou," Abbott insisted. "How did you get from all the way over there?"

"Now why didn't I think to ask that?" Lou said mockingly.

"Because I'm the brains," Abbott replied.

Vidia wasn't sure either one of them had any brains between them. But she wasn't about to be rude to the sparrow man who rescued her. She told them both about the hawk which chased her out to sea and the ship where she escaped it, but couldn't get back home.

"I met a sparrow man on that human vessel named Rodney," she said.

"Now she's done it," Lou interjected. "NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!"

"Done what?"

"HE DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN SOMEONE MENTIONS HIS NAME," Lou said of Abbott, sounding frightfully disturbed.

"If I ever find that Rodney I'll twist his neck until it breaks," Abbott growled.

"Yeah? Well take a number," Vidia answered. "He knocked me out, stole the last of my pixie dust and left me on a buoy to be food for the birds."

"Sounds like him," Abbott replied. "So what's your business here?"

"I have to get back home. First, I need to find the fairy colony here. Rodney said there was one in Brooklyn. If there is one in Brooklyn. How do I get there?"

The two sparrow men looked at each other and smiled. Then addressing Vidia turned and said in unison, "Why, the Brooklyn Bridge."

"The what?"

The Brooklyn Bridge. A hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge completed in 1883 spans some sixteen hundred feet across the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. Vidia was given a tour of the structure by Lou and Abbott who explained everything they knew about it. Afterwards Lou insisted, almost to the point of whining, that Vidia be given a tour of Washington Park.

Washington Park was an open air stadium, the second to bear that name, which hosted the local baseball team.

"This is the home of the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. Do you like baseball?" Lou asked of Vidia.

"Never heard of it before," she readily admitted.

"Oh you'll love it." Lou excitedly flew down and showed her the diamond, each of the three bases and home plate. He then proceeded to explain the basics of the game play and what each position on the field did.

"I come out here to watch the Dodgers play, but I'm always so high up I can never tell who the players are," Lou confessed. "It's a shame you've never heard of the Dodgers. I was hoping you might know who plays first base," he said.

"What?"

"Who's on first?"

"I don't know. How should I know?" Vidia answered sounding a bit annoyed.

Lou sighed. "Well, I'll find out. If not today then tomorrow."

"Lou, I don't think she gives a darn about baseball," Abbott told him snidely.

"Not give a darn about baseball?" Lou said, shocked. "How? Why?"

"Because she's not from around here, naturally. Now come on, we've wasted enough time."

When the sightseeing ended the trio flew on to Brooklyn and Prospect Park where they landed on Duck Island which sits just off the east shore of Prospect Park Lake. She couldn't see anywhere.

"Where is everyone?" Vidia asked.

"This way," Abbott directed. The three entered a hole in the tree and flew down exiting into a long tunnel that was under the ground.

"You live here?" she asked.

"Yes," Abbot replied.

"Too many humans topside," Lou explained.

"I'll tell her why we live down here," Abbott scolded. "There are too many humans topside."

"That's what he said?" Vidia told Abbott.

"No its not," Abbott said in disagreement.

"He's right. I never said that," Lou added.

"No, that's exactly what you said," Vidia said angrily.

"Yeah, Abbott, that's exactly what I said," Lou said, just as angrily.

Abbot responded by smacking Lou in the head. "Now apologize to our guest."

Lou, with a contrite look on his face, said, "I'm a ba-d boy."

"That's better." Abbott then led the way into a well lit room.

"Why do you let him treat you that way?" Vidia asked the chubby one.

"He's my friend."

"No one treats a friend like that."

"He's my only friend."

"Come on, let's go," Abbott called back.

Vidia and Lou followed. Together the three entered a large reception hall. Despite being underground the room was spacious with towering columns where beautiful arches gave way to curved ceilings. Hundreds of fireflies dotted the walls bathing the room in a warm glow.

Dozens of fairies were gathered here. The crowd parted ways to let the visitor through. Each was as unfamiliar to Vidia as she was to them. As she moved through the curious onlookers, Vidia recognized the many fairy castes: water, animal, garden, light, scout, storm, tinker, cooking, dust keeper, summoner and one she did not recognize. She also realized that one caste was missing.

"Where are the winter fairies?" she asked her companions.

"Buffalo," Abbott told her.

"Buffalo? Where's that?"

"The other side of the state," Lou informed her. "Winters can be pretty harsh there so they stay longer."

Lou and Abbott guided Vidia through the crowd which parted for them. Noticeably the eyes of everyone in the room was fixed on the visitor and Vidia could hear the murmuring of the fairies as she passed them by.

When they approached the front of the room there was, sitting in a large and luxuriant chair, a lovely fairy dressed in fine garments and with wings of a colorful butterfly. This, Abbott explained, was the queen and ruler of this colony.

Lou and Abbott took turns explaining how Vidia came to their shores and how they found her. Abbott had seen her get picked up by the seagull and brought ashore. He brought Lou along to rescue Vidia from the bird, but she manage to free herself. Before either could make contact, though, the human picked her up and carried her off. The two followed, looking for an opportunity to extract her from the cage. That opportunity came at the pub when the two humans got into a bar fight.

"My, you've had quite the adventure," the monarch said. She then stood and announced for all to hear, "Welcome then weary traveler. You are the honored guest of Layla, queen of the fairies of Duck Island."

* * *

><p><strong>Nyx is a character from the upcoming Tinker Bell film, <em>Legend of the Neverbeast<em>. **

**Lou and Abbott are modeled on, and named after, the famous comedy duo of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. **

**The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team used to play in Brooklyn decades ago. Officially their name in 1901 was just the Brooklyn Base Ball Club, but was known by fans as the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (for Brooklyn residents' penchant for dodging the trolleys that ran up and down the streets of Brooklyn.) The Dodgers used to play in Washington Park before moving to Ebbets Field and then ultimately to Los Angeles.**

**The short visit to Washington Park contains a reference to Abbott and Costello's most famous comedy routine: _Who's On First_. The dialogue checks off all of the players' unusual names from that skit: Who, What, I Don't Know, Today, Tomorrow, Why, Because, Naturally and I Don't Give A Darn.**

**Thank you for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

7.

Queen Layla of the Fairies of Duck Island. That was some title, Vidia thought. What else was she queen of? The winter fairies of Buffalo?

"You are welcome to stay with us as long as you like," Queen Layla told her visitor.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Vidia said, using her best diplomatic voice. Queen Clarion would be so proud, maybe. "However, I should return to my colony as soon as possible. I am needed for preparations of the upcoming season."

"Yes, of course. Lou and Abbott are our resident experts on human activity. They will help you find your way back to… uh, where did you say you were from again?"

"Pixie Hollow, Never Land."

The fairies in the room gasped. "Oh my, you're from the mother colony," the queen said with reverence. "Well then this surely is an honor to have you in my court this day. Tell me, who is queen of Pixie Hollow these days?"

"Queen Clarion," Vidia replied. "How could you not know?"

Queen Layla sighed. "News rarely moves from one colony to the other. We are autonomous and responsible for our own little patch of the world. Pixie Hollow brings the seasons to the British Isles and parts of Europe. We are responsible for the northeastern United States. A colony in the Florida Keys is responsible for the southeastern U.S., while two others are responsible for Western Seaboard. One in the Texas and another in the Midwest bring the seasons to the middle states. The one based out of Chicago has the largest contingent of fast flyers in the Western Hemisphere according to Lou. Probably why Chicago is known to the humans as The Windy City. But that's all I really know about them."

"Wow! That's more than I've ever heard about fairy colonies," Vidia answered. "I thought Pixie Hollow was the only one."

Layla smiled. "I'm not surprised. However, when you return home, please give Queen Clarion my regards."

"I will indeed, your highness."

"Good. Now that that has been settled, I'm sure you would like some food, rest and pixie dust."

"You don't need to go out of your way on my account," Vidia replied, once again trying to be diplomatic.

"Oh it's not a bother," Layla said. "You are an honored guest. My guard will take you to the dining hall."

A sparrow man dressed in unfamiliar garb approached her. He was very tall, well built and possessed dark skin, almost like Iridessa. He was also quite bald. Vidia was not one to intimidate easily, but she was very intimidated by this man. His skin was covered in elaborate paintings consisting of swirls and fairy glyphs that Vidia could not decipher. She assumed it was a local variation of the fairy language.

"This way, please," he said in a deep and commanding voice. Now she knew who this unknown guild was. The royal guard. Clarion did not have a royal guard in Pixie Hollow. There was no need of one. Her summoner talents doubled as bodyguards if necessary, but in her lifetime they had never been used in that capacity.

Very curious.

**~O~**

The royal guardsman walked her to the dining hall. Along the way she asked him where the four seasons were.

"They used to surround this lake," he told her.

"What happened?"

"The humans moved in. Thousands of years ago, when the first fairy queen arrived this was all lush landscape. Only a few nomadic human groups existed. Eventually, some settled in as farmers. Then the people from the other side of the great waters came. Initially we were not worried. Their numbers were small, but soon more arrived on their sailing ships. The colonies were carved into states, small towns grew into large cities and we were forced to move."

The fairies of Duck Island tried to live among the humans who built homes in what they now call the city of Brooklyn. But eventually, the humans kept pushing for more land and the seasons had to be relocated. The winter season is now located in the state of Connecticut. Autumn was moved to Eastern Pennsylvania, Spring can now be found in New Jersey and Summer is in Northern Delaware.

"Are these places far away?"

"Very far to a fairy. So much so that our Secretaries of the Seasons-."

"Secretaries?" Vidia looked utterly perplexed.

"Yes, here in the New World, a government minister is called a Secretary. Ministers are strictly members of the clergy. For you, I'll refer to them as the ministers. Each Minister of the Season oversees their own region almost as if they were a regent. They travel to Duck Island twice per year to give reports and accept new instructions. All other communication is handled by our fast flyers."

"That sounds like a lot of flying," Vidia said.

"Indeed it is. We have relay stations along each route," the guard told her. "Flyers leaving here go to the first station where they hand off the message packs to a rested fast flyer. That fairy then goes to the next station. The communications are handed off repeatedly until they arrive at their destination."

"I love flying as much as the next fast flyer, but even that has to be exhausting."

"Yes, we have lost many of your guild to exhaustion and predatory birds."

Vidia felt her heart sink. Her own guild? How many? And how could a good queen allow such a terrible thing to occur? "Why didn't Queen Layla keep the seasons closer?"

"She's tried," the guard answered. "We have moved them repeatedly, but in each instance humans expanded their cities and intruded on our world. Our queen thought the four seasons would be safe on an island nearby. It was too small for any houses, but then the humans built that ugly statue there. We've relocated the seasons to areas mostly isolated from the human scum that lives around us." There was a distinct tinge of anger in his voice.

"Scum?"

"My apologies," the guard replied. "When you have endured all that we have, it can sometimes make you cynical and jaded."

"I can sympathize," Vidia told him. While it was true that she did sympathize with him about being cynical and jaded from past experiences, his description of humans as "scum" troubled her. Even in her own heart Vidia never truly disliked humans. She kept away from them for practical reasons, though she most certainly enjoyed spending time with Lizzy and her father. But for a fairy to use the word "scum" to describe humans…?

Very, very curious.

"Can't you move your pixie dust tree to found a new colony?" she asked him.

The guard just exploded with laughter that boomed throughout the hallway. "No fairy can do that."

"Well, it just so happens we have one who can," she said. "She's a Pixie Dust Alchemist named Zarina."

"Yes, and I am the Easter Bunny," he said with a laugh.

**~O~**

They arrived at the dining hall before Vidia could utter another word. Her meal was a spectacular array of fruits, nuts, cheeses and juices. Vidia had more placed before her than she could eat in a week. And all of it tasted absolutely wonderful.

"I'm surprised. Your colony sure has lots of food," she told the server who was bringing her refills of juice and plenty of fresh baked bread. Her garb was of a baking talent. "Do all of you eat this good?"

The server, though said nothing. She turned away and returned to the kitchen rather quickly. Vidia thought she was getting the cold shoulder from that fairy. "What's her problem?"

"She doesn't talk much," the guard informed her.

"Yeah, I noticed." Something else Vidia noticed. The baking talent serving her appeared to be scowling at her. She got the distinct impression that the baker was angry with her. Vidia couldn't understand why, they didn't even know each other.

Vidia didn't know what to make of it. Only that it seemed rather strange.

**~O~**

When she had eaten all that her belly could hold, Vidia followed the guard to her room for some much needed rest. Walking out the door of the dining hall Vidia remembered the strange encounter with the baking talent. She turned to look back at the kitchen and spied the fairy peering through the door at her. It was only a glance, but the fast flyer got the oddest feeling from that baker.

Vidia just shook her head thinking it was all in her mind. _Probably just fatigue_, she told herself.

The guest room where the flyer was brought was very well appointed. Since the colony was underground there were no windows, but in place of them were some of the most beautiful landscape paintings she had ever seen. The colors perfectly replicated the blue waters, green grasses and lush trees. Even the sunlight seemed to glimmer off the water's surface. The three paintings were hung close together to complete the scene as if a panoramic view.

"That is what this land used to look like before the humans from Europe turned it into New York City," the guard explained. There was that note of bitterness in his voice again.

The guard also told her that if she flipped the canvases over the opposite sides had the same landscape at night.

"It helps us to sleep better," he told her. Indeed, the opposite side did have the same view at night and it was just as exquisite as the daytime rendering. The guard them excused himself and left Vidia to her nap. "I'll check on you later and I'll bring you some pixie dust upon my return."

Vidia relaxed on probably the most comfortable bed she had ever felt. This place was an absolute marvel to behold. An underground colony, a kind and giving queen, incredible food and a bed so soft she could fall asleep in a minute. Yet she could not sleep so easily. Something about this place didn't seem quite right, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Soon, though, Vidia closed her eyes and found her sweet slumber.


	8. Chapter 8

**Finding Never Land**

* * *

><p>8.<p>

"Vidia's alive!" Tinker Bell shouted as she burst into the queen's office where Clarion was conducting a private meeting with her four ministers. The guard at the door tried to stop Tink, but the little tinker fairy just barreled on through.

"Are you certain?" Clarion asked. The ministers were somewhat annoyed by this intrusion, but relief won the moment.

"I'm…, almost certain," Tinker Bell said, reining in her enthusiasm.

"What do you mean 'almost certain'?" Hyacinth grumbled.

Tinker Bell laid down several rolled leaves and spread them open. "I talked with Lizzy and her father about Vidia. He knew someone at the conservatory who knew a ship's captain who knew the dock master."

"To the point, dear," Clarion gently nudged.

"This first sheet is a maritime map of the coastline and the English Channel," she said. Tinker Bell put her finger on a spot and said, "This is London. All of these lines represent the shipping lanes coming and going from the city. On the day that Vidia was chased by the hawk Dr. Griffith's learned that two vessels, this one and this one, were in the exact place at the exact time for Vidia to land and seek shelter."

"Do you think she made it to one of those ships?" Snowflake asked before anyone else could.

"It's Vidia, of course," Tinker Bell answered confidently.

"Where were these vessels heading?" Redleaf asked.

"One is going to America…"

"And the other?" Sunflower asked nervously.

"Ceylon, off the coast of India," Tink answered.

"Which one, which one?" Sunflower fumbled nervously.

"This ship is the most likely candidate," Tinker Bell said. "Dr. Griffiths believes it was the closest to Vidia's last known position."

"What was its heading, dear?" the queen asked.

"New York City," Tinker Bell answered.

The queen and ministers gasped. "So far away," Hyacinth said, nearly suffering a case of the vapors.

"Tinker Bell, I'm putting you in charge. Mount a rescue operation. Bring your friends with you. I'm giving you carte blanche to take as much pixie dust as you need to recover Vidia….," Clarion hesitated to speak these next words, "dead or alive, and bring her home."

"Already taken care of," Tinker Bell answered with a big grin.

The queen was stunned, but pleased by Tinker Bell's initiative. "How?"

"Dr. Griffiths has booked passage on a cruise vessel bound for New York City," Tink replied. "It leaves early tomorrow morning. He, Lizzy, myself along with Iridessa, Fawn, Silvermist and Rosetta will go with him."

"Well done, dear," the queen replied, smiling. "Now run along and prepare for your journey."

Tinker Bell bowed. "Yes, your highness." Tink turned to leave, but in the doorway she stopped and turned around to address the queen again. "Don't worry, Queen Clarion. We'll bring her back. Safe and sound."

"I'm sure you will, Tinker Bell. And Tinker Bell?"

"Yes, your highness?"

"Bring Terence with you," the queen advised. "For such a long distance you'll need an experienced dust keeper to monitor your pixie dust levels while you are away."

"Yes, ma'am," Tink replied with just a bit too much enthusiasm.

* * *

><p><strong>~O~<strong>

The next morning, Vidia awoke to the sounds of a tray being put on a table. She opened her eyes and spied the same baking talent who annoyed her last night in her room. At the very instant she realized that Vidia was stirring and looking at her, the baking fairy bolted from the room, nearly toppling the tray onto the floor.

"What was that about?" Vidia asked. The fast flyer sat at the table and began eating her breakfast. Under one plate she noticed something peeking out. When she slid it out from underneath, Vidia discovered it was a small piece of folded paper. Inside were two words written in common fairy language: "Get Out!"

"Hmph! Who does she think she is telling me what do?" Vidia griped. It nearly spoiled her amazing breakfast.

At the conclusion of her meal, the sentry returned with a large bag of pixie dust for her. Vidia quickly slid the note into her tunic, hiding it.

"This should be more than enough to get you home," the guard said. "Lou and Abbott have arranged for you to ride a cargo vessel bound for England. It leaves this afternoon and it will dock in London in a few days. From there you should have no problem returning to your home at Never Land."

"Thank you," Vidia said taking the large bag. She judged by its size and weight that this was easily three days' worth of rations. "Aren't others going to need all of this?"

The royal guardsman smiled. "They have made a willing sacrifice so that our honored guest can return home safely."

"Thank them for me," Vidia answered, feeling a tinge of guilt for taking so much from the other fairies of this place. She knew just how important a day's ration of pixie dust was to any fairy. Vidia was led back into the main hall where Queen Layla was sitting on her throne holding court. She gave the visitor priority and bade Vidia a safe trip. She handed the fast flyer of Never Land a leaf scroll rolled up, bound in a ribbon and pressed firmly with the royal seal. "This is a communique to your queen," Layla told her. "It is a letter of commendation. You have represented your colony very well, Vidia. I have also extended a personal invitation to your queen to visit us on Duck Island. I would most enjoy speaking to someone of my own station for once."

_Her own station?_ Vidia thought. Those words seemed awfully haughty. Queen Clarion was the ruler of Never Land, but she never lorded it over anyone. She somehow managed to maintain a flawless propriety while still being approachable and friendly. If she didn't wear the crown Clarion might be someone you would have a drink with once in a while.

_You're reading too much into it, Vidia_, she chided herself. Vidia concluded that Layla probably meant she had no one around with whom to lay out her burdens and confess her problems. Her ministers, err… secretaries, were days of flying away. Clarion also had Lord Milori as an equal and Fairy Mary as a confidant. What did Queen Layla have? Another queen around even for a little while would give her someone to share ideas with and swap stories. "Thank you, Queen Layla. "I will deliver this to Queen Clarion in person," Vidia announced, again trying to play the role of the diplomat.

Abbott and Lou guided Vidia out of the tree and outside. The trio cautiously flew among the trees and buildings of the city staying out of site of the humans who lived and worked here and the predatory birds that glided above looking for an easy meal. Lou looked wistfully at the bridge and city he loved so much, a seeming rarity for his colony.

"Why do you like this place?" Vidia asked him.

"Just look at this place," he said with a broad grin on his face. "Humans are so industrious and inventive. They play baseball and erect amazing constructs like the Brooklyn Bridge. Have you seen the statue they built in the harbor?"

"Why would a statue of a human be of any interest to you or any fairy?" Vidia asked with a huff.

"They call it, the Statue of Liberty," Lou replied in a voice showing that he was completely taken by it. "It's a symbol that this place offers promise for a better future. Freedom to pursue your destiny without constraint. I like that."

"Yeah, sure. And that lack of constraint has built a city around our home," Abbott responded cynically. "Do you know they elect their leaders, Vidia? They have no kings or queens."

"None?" Vidia asked.

"No, they have a president who is elected from the populace."

"Whoa!"

"Yes! So much for human ingenuity."

"They probably had a good reason for it," Lou argued.

"Of course, these humans are barbarians. They aren't refined like we are," Abbott replied. "Well, present company accepted." Abbott looked directly at Lou when he said that.

"It's a symbol of their freedom," Lou responded. "Anyone could be there leader. Not just a self-appointed monarch."

A scowl on Abbott's face was a signal for Lou to shut up.

This exchange sent up red flags in Vidia's head. Abbott's dislike of humans, while not as venomous, echoed that of the royal guard. Lou, on the other hand, spoke as if he had little or no freedom to pursue his ambitions. It would have been easy enough to dismiss his ramblings as a simple attraction to the human world, not unlike Tinker Bell. Lou's little speech, though, revealed a sense that he, and by extension the other fairies of Duck Island, lacked the freedom she enjoyed in Pixie Hollow.

This interpretation changed how she viewed that note that was on her tray this morning. Was that baking fairy trying to run her out of Duck Island? That didn't make any sense now that Vidia thought about it. The baker had no reason to chase Vidia out of the colony.

Or maybe it was a warning? A plea to escape before something terrible happened. Suddenly this called into question Queen Layla's invitation for Clarion to visit. Now she was troubled, but there were still many doubts. So many questions to answer. Maybe, just maybe, Vidia was reading too much into it. Then again, maybe not.

Abbott, Lou and Vidia arrived at the boat that was to ferry the fast flyer back to England and her home.

"It's a different vessel than what brought you here," Abbott told her. "But we have stacked provisions for you in a small, out of the way place."

"Wait, you know where to hide on these ships?"

"We use them frequently to transport fairy dust to the seasons," Abbott explained. Initially this made sense, but this vessel was bound for England, not other parts of the American coast. So why would there be a place for fairies on this vessel? More red flags.

He showed Vidia the small room behind a loose piece of sheet metal. It was similar to the one where Rodney let her stay. There was food, water and even an empty spool with a bowl and pitcher to wash up each day. A bed made of straw with a sheet and blanket was provided for her to rest.

"If your queen ever decides to visit, this is how she can travel," Lou said excitedly. "It sure would be nice if she came. I wonder if she is anything like Queen Layla."

"She's nothing like our queen," Abbott responded harshly. "She's British."

Vidia sensed there was more to that statement. Or rather, something different hiding in the undertones. She decided to get one question answered right now. She pulled the note from her tunic and showed it to the two sparrow men. "A baking talent slipped this to me on my breakfast tray," she told them. "It reads 'Get out!' What does it mean?"

Lou appeared absolutely horrified. Abbott was more disappointed. "I wish you hadn't seen that."

It was a strange response, but Vidia could not form a reply. A sharp pain in the back of her head sent Vidia to the floor. _Not again_, was her last thought before passing out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: The island nation of Ceylon mentioned in this story is today known as Sri Lanka. In the time period this story takes place, Ceylon was a British Crown Colony. It earned its independence from Great Britain in 1948 and altered its name to Sri Lanka in 1972.<br>**

**Thank you for reading. Please leave a review if you are enjoying this story. I look forward to your feedback.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Finding Never Land**

_Note: Chapters 9 and 10 will get a little grim._

* * *

><p>9.<p>

Vidia woke with a splitting headache. She groaned as her eyes slowly opened. What she saw was out of focus. For many seconds all she could recognize were colors and shapes. Sounds and voices were her eyes for the moment. There was the chatter of dialogue among dozens of fairies, clanging of pots and in the distance crying. Sniffling, pouting, sobbing, hopeless crying.

"I think she's waking up," came a very familiar voice. "Hey there, good looking. Remember me?"

Vidia's vision returned to normal. A helpful fairy brought her to her feet. She took one look at the face staring back at her and knew immediately who it was. Rodney. The pain of her headache gave way to a swelling of pent up anger. She grabbed his head and slammed it down into her knee.

Rodney dropped instantly. He was writhing on the ground in agony. His hands and arms wrapped around his forehead. "Yeah, she remembers me," Rodney moaned.

"You left me out to die!" Vidia screamed. "You deserve the same!"

"Please, allow us to explain," a masculine voice said. All the chatter and movement Vidia had heard moments earlier had stopped. She looked up and saw a sparrow man dressed in tattered clothing. He was holding a walking stick as he hobbled over to her.

"My name is Aeneas," he announced.

"Am I in another colony?" Vidia asked.

"No, this is a refugee camp," Rodney moaned. His hands still cupping his forehead.

"Refugee camp?" Vidia asked. Now she was totally confused. "What does he mean refugee camp?"

"You are from the mother colony, are you not?" Aeneas greeted.

"Yes."

"It is good to meet you, though I would have preferred under far better circumstances" Aeneas replied. "I am the Keeper of All Fairy Knowledge."

"Keeper of all...? You're like Dewey," Vidia answered. "He's our Keeper."

"Every colony has one," he answered. "Keepers maintain the history of each fairy kingdom."

"So why are you here and not at Duck Island with the others?" Vidia asked.

"This place is a secret refuge for those lucky enough to escape Queen Layla's bloodthirsty rule."

"Bloodthirsty?" Vidia was struck by those words. They sounded like hyperbole. While in the fairy colony Vidia was never treated as anything but an honored guest. She saw no wrong doing of any kind. She said as much to the Keeper of Duck Island.

"Come with me." Aeneas brought Vidia on a tour of the camp.

"Where are we anyway?" Vidia asked.

"We live within the bowels of Washington Park, the baseball stadium," the Keeper told her. "Our camp used to be inside the Brooklyn Bridge until we were found out. We evacuated quickly, but the stragglers were ravaged by the queen's hordes."

"Hordes? Ravaged?"

Aeneas stopped and turned around. Vidia gasped. His wings had been shredded. Then he pointed to his left leg which she could now see had been broken, but had healed improperly. "The others were... far less fortunate."

Inside another chamber Vidia saw what Aeneas called the terror of Queen Layla. Here were so many fairies and sparrow men laying on the floor. Their wings mangled, cut or shredded like Aeneas. Some were recovering from terrible injuries. One young fairy was missing a leg. A sparrow man had no left arm below his elbow. One far seeing fairy had a bandage over his face. "His eyes were cut out," the Keeper told her. "Punishment for daring to speak against her royal phoniness," he told her.

Then she saw what sent chills down her spine. In an alcove were several fast flyers. Each was missing one or both wings. All had bandages somewhere on their bodies covering deep, physical wounds. One was missing his left leg while another was missing both. Each had to be helped by others. She slowly walked to one of them knelt at his side.

The fast flyer sparrow man looked up at her in stunned disbelief. "How can you still have your wings?" he asked.

"She is from Never Land," Aeneas told him.

For a moment the injured flyer didn't believe his hears. "Did you fly here?"

"I was chased by a hawk," Vidia explained. "I took shelter on a human ship and it brought me here."

"What is your name?"

"Vidia," she answered him.

"I'm Virgil," he replied. "I was the fastest fast flyer on Duck Island. My wings used to be so very tall. I could fly to the distant seasons in less than forty eight hours. It took everyone else three or more days. Sometimes when I sleep and dream I can still feel the wind hitting my face and blowing through my hair."

"And the ground rushing passed below," Vidia added. "Going by in an elongated blur that no other fairy could experience or understand."

"YES! Yes, exactly. You do understand. I hate to ask, but can I see your wings?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"I have not seen nor felt mine since they were cut off. Please, may I?"

To a fast flyer wings were everything. To any other fairy flight was just a means of locomotion. To a fast flyer, flying was who they were. It was their purpose, their being, their life. Cutting off their wings was like cutting out their heart. Life was meaningless without them.

She turned and spread out her elongated wings. Two others helped the injured sparrow man to his one good leg. "They are so beautiful," he observed. Without thinking to ask he reached out and touched Vidia's tall wings. He ran his fingers up and down slowly, drinking in the light feel and delicate nature of her wings. He marveled at just how wonderfully long they were. "I have never seen wings so tall. Not even mine. You must be the most talented of your guild."

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"I would have loved to race against you," Virgil told Vidia. Then he broke into sobs. The two fairies who propped him, gently set him back down.

Vidia watched as he cried. She crouched next to him and took his hand in hers. "Why was this done to you?"

"I…, I refused to do Queen Layla's bidding," Virgil said through tear filled eyes. "When I came to know the truth I could not be party to her rule. She punished me by cutting off my wings and then putting me to the lash. For weeks I was scourged by her henchmen. My back still bears the scars. I would have been better off if she had just killed me."

Virgil cupped his hand to Vidia's face. "Get out of this place as quickly as you can," he told her directly. "Don't look back. Save yourself and I'll be happy to know you're out of that horrible woman's reach."

Vidia was so moved by Virgil's plight. Her normally cynical heart broke with the pain that one of her own was living this way. And not just any fast flyer, but one so talented. She decided to offer Virgil a gift. Vidia stood directly in front of him. She beat her wings as fast as she could. She raised a breeze, then a strong wind, finally a gale.

When she looked over her shoulders she could see Virgil smiling. The wind touched his face and slipped through his hair the way it used to when he could fly. He stretched out his arms and closed his eyes. No doubt he was remembering the days when he could move about through the air as Vidia still could. When she was done Virgil kissed her hand and whispered, "I can die a happy flyer now. Thank you."

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><p><strong>Vidia's tour through the refugee camp will be continued in the next chapter.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Finding Never Land**

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><p>10.<p>

Aeneas continued Vidia's tour of the refugee camp. They moved to other alcoves and found other talents huddled together in much the same way as the flyers. Those who were able bodied brought food, water and any aid possible to those who could not do for themselves. Some brought comfort to the inconsolable. They told stories and read books, played games and sometimes just kept their companions talking.

As she observed, Vidia suddenly put two and two together. Every fairy and sparrow man that had been intentionally maimed was done so in a way that affected their talent.

The fast flyers were rendered flightless. The light talents had been blinded. Their eyes taken from them. They could no longer see the light that they manipulated. The faces of many garden fairies were disfigured. Their noses had been cut off and cauterized. They could no longer enjoy the pleasant aromas of their gardens.

At first, the animal fairies seemed unharmed, but when she spoke with one she learned that her tongue had been cut out. Many animal talents suffered this. Animal talent fairies could understand and speak every language of every animal and insect they cared for. They spoke those languages like a native. These poor fairies could no longer communicate with the precious creatures of their world.

Then Vidia noted that a number of tinker talent fairies were missing their hands. Aeneas explained that they had been lopped off so they could not tinker any new inventions. Then Vidia realized that only a handful of water fairies were present, but they were mostly unharmed.

"What about the water talents?" she asked Aeneas.

"Most were drowned," he replied.

"Why? Why has your queen done this to you?"

Then Rodney, who had recovered from being cold cocked, clued her in to another piece of the puzzle. "This isn't just a refugee camp," he told her. "We are also the resistance."

"Resistance?" Vidia repeated. It took a second for this to register fully. "Resistance?! You mean you're committing treason!"

Aeneas thought about that for a second before answering, "Treason, aye? Treason is a charge invented by the winners as an excuse for hanging the losers."

"But what you're doing is illegal," Vidia barked. "You can't mount a rebellion against your own queen. Look what it has gotten you."

"Vidia, Vidia," Aeneas spoke. "Don't you know that a rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as _our_ rebellion? It is only in the third person, _their_ rebellion, that it is illegal."

"Hunh?!"

"You have to forgive Aeneas," Rodney told Vidia. "He is a huge fan of Benjamin Franklin. A rebel for the American Colonies when they turned against England in the late 1700's."

"Benjamin Franklin? Who is…? No, no, no. What you are doing is wrong. And now you've dragged me into this. OH NO! I wonder what Queen Clarion will have to say when she finds out?"

"Vidia, we didn't turn against our queen," Aeneas replied. "I'm sorry, I thought you had figured it out. We're rebelling because Queen Layla has turned against us."

"WHAT?!"

Rodney told her that when Queen Rea passed away after nearly fifteen hundred years as ruler, two monarch fairies arrived. An extraordinary event. Sisters Lisa and Layla. Both arrived at the same time, but Lisa received her dust one second before Layla and was crowned as queen. Layla became jealous believing she had as much right to the crown as Lisa. She hid her jealousy until one evening Queen Lisa vanished.

"Layla told us that Queen Lisa had gone to survey the seasons and fell prey to a predatory bird," Rodney told Vidia. "But we know better. Layla did in her own sister to claim the throne for herself."

"That's why Lou said the queen was self-appointed," Vidia concluded.

"Yes. All of us who knew the truth or deduced what she had done were taken by force and made to swear loyalty to the new queen or face harsh consequences," Rodney told her. "Many refused and were scourged in ways that denied them their talent. Eyes were gouged out for the light talents. The tinker fairies lost their hands…"

"And the fast flyers had their wings cut off."

"Yes, but that's not all," Aeneas said. "The queen has a power I've never seen nor heard of before."

"Power? What power?"

"She can consume our laughs."

Vidia quirked a confused eyebrow. "I've never been one to laugh very much anyway."

"A fairy is born from a human baby's first laugh," Aeneas explained.

"Yeah, I know that," Vidia said, crossing her arms. "I'm the designated flyer who guides them in at Pixie Hollow."

Aeneas continued. "The laugh is a fairy's heart and soul. If the laugh dies, the fairy dies with it. Queen Layla can remove the laugh and kill the fairy. However, the laugh does not fade. Instead, she consumes it making herself more powerful."

"It's a horrible thing to see," Rodney told her.

"How would you know?" Vidia asked.

"It was how she killed her own sister," he said.

Vidia was stunned by this pronouncement. "H-How…?"

"I was there," he said. "I was the one whom Layla manipulated into drawing Queen Lisa into a secluded area so Layla could steal her soul. Layla told me if I said a word to anyone I would be put to death for insurrection against Queen Lisa. I fled. That's why I know the shipping lanes so well. I've spent decades travelling trying to stay away from our phony queen. I've known of the resistance for some time, but I prefer not to get heavily involved. I've come to enjoy the freedom of riding the waves and visiting distant lands."

"We've been trying to recruit Rodney to be more active in our efforts," the Keeper said, "but he steadfastly refuses."

"I have my reasons," Rodney answered.

To Vidia it sounded like guilt was keeping him out of active service with this rebellion. If it did indeed have a righteous purpose. That she did not yet know. They could be saying anything to her right now and make it sound reasonable in this environment.

"So why did you leave me on that buoy?" Vidia asked.

"I thought you might have been a spy," Rodney admitted. "Layla has made it clear she wants my head. Your claim to be a fairy from Never Land seemed almost too good to be true. Since Layla was sending you back with an invitation to your queen I knew you were being truthful."

"Rodney!" a familiar voice shouted. "Rodney, Sonya has been found out."

Vidia saw both Lou and Abbott approaching. Abbott explained that Sonya, a baking talent, was taken under arrest and was scheduled for execution. "Layla knows about the note Sonya slipped to Vidia."

"You mean this one?" Vidia produced the slip of leaf paper.

"Yes, that one. The guard saw you hiding it and interrogated the kitchen staff until one of them finally broke," Abbott concluded.

"Wait? You two are part of this resistance?" Vidia asked of Lou and Abbott.

"Yes, we act as spies and operate an underground railroad," Lou said happily.

Vidia was confused by the reference.

"During this country's history people from Africa were kept as slaves," Rodney told her. "But the nation was divided with the southern states mostly wanting to protect slavery while the northern states mostly wanted to abolish it. A few in the south became sympathetic to the abolitionist movement and formed a loose coalition of safe houses to spirit slaves to the north. The runaways were taken from one safe house to another until they reached freedom. This was euphemistically known as an underground railroad."

"Yeah, we do the same thing," Lou continued. "We help the runaways who oppose the queen to escape Duck Island."

"Most don't try, but the few who do end up here," Aeneas added.

"So why don't more flee?" Vidia asked.

"Fear," Rodney said. The queen torments and maims those who speak against her. Any fairy who engages in any activity that tries to undermine her authority is executed using her special "power." Most fairies don't want to endure the painful torture and they actively avoid upsetting her. "Of course, once someone has been tortured they can't get out of there fast enough."

"Okay, so how does this power work?" Vidia asked, truly wanting to know. Despite all that she had seen, the fast flyer from Never Land still had many doubts in her head. Everything being told to her was from one side of the argument. However, she could not very well just ask the queen point blank if she was a murderous tyrant. If all that Rodney and Aeneas said was true, Vidia might end up like those poor, unfortunate souls she met in the camp.

"Come with us," Lou said. "We can get you inside and show you."

First, Vidia was asked to change into different color clothes. Her purple tunic and leggings would stand out. In their place she was given a long, blue dress. She hated dresses, but remembered that she was supposed to be on a ship bound for London at this moment. Then her hair was let loose from its ponytail and she was told to keep her wings down and allow her long hair to cover them.

"Now you look like a proper water fairy," Rodney stated.

"Great," Vidia answered unhappily.

Lou and Abbott took Vidia through secret tunnels the resistance had constructed as part of their underground railroad. These tunnels, actually old gopher and root tunnels, stretched out as far as the edges of the city of Brooklyn, going under the lake that surrounded the tree.

They entered a rarely used hallway and quietly moved through the underground colony and into the main audience chamber. Lou and Abbott instructed Vidia to remain near the back of the room, but instead she chose to move closer to get a better view of this alleged power.

Sonya was brought into the chamber under heavy guard, one of whom was the same royal guardsman who had escorted Vidia through the colony just yesterday. Vidia noticed that Sonya's wings had already been shredded, preventing her from flying away, and her back was bleeding from being whipped repeatedly.

Vidia cupped her hands to her mouth as she gasped at this horrible sight. "Oh no, what have they done to her? All of this because of me?"

Then the queen cleared her throat and began to speak in a loud and clear voice. "My charges, whom I love and cherish every day, it pains me when one of our own turns against us. My dear sister Queen Lisa, who died in my arms, proclaimed me as the rightful heir and bade that I follow her ideals. I have done all that I can to honor my sister's last words. Some, though, simply cannot accept me as the ruler of Duck Island and refuse to accept my sister's final wish. These insurrectionists threaten the peace and stability of our world. I cannot understand why they would wish to harm so many fairies who have done them no wrong."

"You are the phony queen of Duck Island!" Sonya yelled. "You murdered Queen Lisa out of spitefulness and jealousy! You are unworthy as a successor to our beloved Queen!"

"Dear, sweet child, I cannot control what the fates have in store for us," Layla told Sonya in a kind and motherly voice. "My sister, whom I loved with all my heart, pushed me aside so that I would live even as she was torn asunder by the vicious predator that ended her life. "

"Murderer!" Sonya blasted. The baker turned her gaze to the assembled crowd. "She killed her own sister to take the throne. Do not listen to her. Do not bow down to her tyranny. If you do not fight back then you will live as cowering slaves for the rest of your lives."

"How can I convince you, my dear, that I am not the enemy?" Layla sweetly said. "I want only for your happiness."

"Then leave us," Sonya answered. "That would make us all happy."

"Sadly, I cannot. I am queen and I must protect this colony. I am very sorry for what I am about to do, but you leave me no choice." Layla approached Sonya who fought against the guards who held her in place. "Why couldn't you just live happily? Sonya the baking talent you are charged with sedition and found guilty of this heinous criminal act against the throne. Unhappily, I must be punish you accordingly."

Queen Layla opened her mouth. Her jaw appeared to dislocate itself allowing her mouth to open unnaturally wide. Sonya's magic was siphoned from her body. The baker groaned and then screamed in anguish as the very laugh that was the spark of her life was torn from her person. The glowing orb, which all could hear still giggling and burbling, was extracted from her chest. Layla drew in a deep breath and consumed the laugh. As it descended down her throat the laughter of the child turned to a painful scream. The sound disappeared barely a second later. The empty husk that was Sonya the baking talent crumbled into glowing pixie dust. But as it fell, the dust turned black like ashes.

Vidia was incredulous and overwhelmed by what she saw.

"I have no quarrel with those who dislike me, but I cannot allow active rebellion," the monarch said. "It threatens the safety of all of us and it threatens the livelihoods of the humans who depend on us to bring in the seasons each year. Please, if you hear of anyone who wishes to overthrow my rule dissuade them as best you can. Otherwise, inform us and we will do our best to convince them otherwise. I only want for my fairies to be as content as can be. No one should live under the threat of an insurrection. Good day, everyone."

Queen Layla's tone was virtually apologetic throughout. Even her facial expressions conveyed painful agony at having to resort to such extreme measures. Layla's words and body language seemed so completely detached from what she was doing. A horrible, evil thing juxtaposed to a sweet, motherly voice.

The crowd dispersed. Vidia, however, was paralyzed by this display of ruthless power. She could hardly process such a cruel and violent act.

"Let's go," Lou whispered to Vidia. "We need to get you out of here before you are found out."

Vidia was still in shock and barely nodded. "Where…, how do we…get out of here?" she asked, stumbling and fumbling over her words.

"The same way we came in," Abbott answered.

When Vidia entered the secret tunnels, Rodney was waiting to meet her. "Well?"

"I…, I can't believe what I just… what I just saw," she answered, still in deep emotional shock. An execution of a fairy by the queen was itself an unheard of act. There were so many other humane options. The manner in which it was done was utterly shattering. "How can she do that? Why would she do that? Why not banish them? Where did she acquire that power? This isn't right. I have to do something. We have to remove her from the throne."

"Without an all-out war, the only person who can depose a sitting monarch is another monarch," Abbott informed her. "Or a unanimous vote by her four secretaries."

"That'll never happen," Rodney said. "Those four cowards would never turn against Layla."

"Then I have to get back to Never Land and inform Queen Clarion," Vidia said, now with purpose to her voice. "She can do something. When does the next boat to England leave?"

"In two days," Rodney answered. "A luxury liner is set to depart for Liverpool. It's on the far side of the country, but you can fly the rest of the way. Until then, you'll stay with me."

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading and please leave a review.<strong>


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